Written by Tyler WaltersPrivate equity firms have increasingly turned to smaller, owner-run businesses - buying strong, established companies in fragmented industries and combining them, or holding them for growth. For a healthy Kitsap business with reliable cash flow, that can mean an unsolicited offer arriving out of nowhere. It's a real trend, and it's reaching businesses that never expected to be acquisition targets.
Slow down before you engage. An unsolicited offer is a signal that your business has value - not an obligation to sell, and not a reason to negotiate on the buyer's timeline. The first move is to understand what you actually have: a real sense of the business's worth, and a clear picture of what a sale would net you after tax and what you'd need it to provide. Owners who engage from that footing are in a far stronger position than owners who react to the number in front of them.
The structure is often more complex. PE deals can involve rollover equity (keeping a stake in the combined business), earnouts (payments tied to future performance), and terms that affect how and when you actually receive the money - and how it's taxed. The headline price and the money you end up with can be quite different, depending on how the deal is built. That makes understanding the structure, before you agree to it, especially important.
For a first look at how much of a headline price you'd actually keep, try our Washington business sale tax calculator.
With the right team, and by planning the personal side alongside the deal side. A business broker or M&A advisor and an attorney handle the transaction; your CPA handles the tax. What's easy to overlook is the question that matters most to you: what this sale means for the rest of your life. That's the piece we hold for Kitsap owners - the after-tax number, the plan for the proceeds, and whether the deal actually delivers the life you're selling for - coordinated with the rest of your team.